Summer Pasta Salads

Fresh and flavorful pasta salads, including your favorite macaroni salad recipes, are fitting side dishes for your favorite grilled entrées. But many of them can also star as main dishes for an easy summer dinner.

Photo: Mark Thomas; Styling: Stephana Bottom

Picnic-Perfect Tuna-and-Macaroni Salad

This colorful macaroni salad with tuna features grated carrot, chopped celery and red onion, all tossed in a creamy mayonnaise-yogurt dressing. Serve it chilled as a side salad or a main dish.

Farmers' Market Pasta Salad

Cook the pasta al dente (1 or 2 minutes shorter than package directions specify) so it holds its shape when tossed with the vegetables and vinaigrette. Ripe for riffs, the salad is also delicious with cheese-filled tortellini.

Green Bean Pasta Salad with Lemon-Thyme Vinaigrette

This pasta side dish Is made with casarecce [cah-sah-RECH-ee], a pasta that looks similar to a scroll with the long sides curled inward toward the center. If you can’t find casarecce, you can use penne pasta.

Watermelon-and-Feta Orzo Salad

Pesto Pasta Salad

Add bright flavor and a punch of color to the traditional pasta salad by using a simple homemade pesto. Mix the pesto ingredients in a food processor for a quick side, which only calls for three other ingredients.

Roasted Chicken and Bow Tie Pasta Salad

Instead of a mayonnaise-based dressing, this fruited pasta salad has a citrus-mustard vinaigrette. Chopped celery and toasted walnuts add crunch, and red grapes contribute just the right amount of sweetness.

Chicken-Penne Salad with Green Beans

Fresh green beans and roasted red peppers are the stars of this satisfying pasta salad. Because it has shredded chicken, it's certainly hearty enough for a quick weeknight meal and takes about 35 minutes to make.

Tomato-and-Gorgonzola Pasta Salad

Macaroni Salad with Bacon, Peas, and Creamy Dijon Dressing

It's hard to say what makes this salad so spectacular–it's either crisp bacon crumbles or the creamy dressing that's made with cream cheese, mayonnaise, and sour cream. This will be quite a crowd pleaser at your next picnic.

Cavatappi Pasta Salad with Walnut-Sage Pesto

A traditional pesto is made with pine nuts and basil, but this version features the more intense flavors of walnuts and fresh sage. The warm pasta is tossed with the pesto, roasted butternut squash, and arugula for a satisfying salad that can fill in as a main dish.

Confetti Pasta Salad with Chicken

A colorful medley of chopped fresh veggies gives this creamy pasta salad both color and flavor. For a shortcut, you can use rotisserie chicken instead of simmering fresh chicken breasts. Or, stir in leftover grilled chicken.

Dressed with a simple vinaigrette made from fresh herbs and a good quality extra-virgin olive oil, this pasta salad is as delicious as it is easy to prepare. The homemade Italian dressing will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days, so consider doubling the recipe to keep some on hand.

Give up the box mix because making Classic Baked Macaroni and Cheese from scratch is easier than you think. Shredding a block of cheese adds a little more prep time but the smooth and creamy results are worth it. For more tasty mac and cheese recipes, see our complete Macaroni and Cheese recipe collection.)